Daytona could become home to huge food distribution center

A large field on the west side could soon be home to an 800,000-sq-foot distribution center that would create 450 jobs.

By Eileen Zaffiro-Keaneileen.zaffiro-kean@news-jrnl.com

DAYTONA BEACH — A large vacant field on the city’s west side could soon be home to an 800,000-square-foot food distribution center for a national retailer that would create 450 new jobs and give Daytona Beach a shot at luring more high-caliber warehouse operations.The name of the company has been guarded by a tight circle of city and county leaders, and some government officials who’ve worked on the project — with square footage equal to more than four Walmart Supercenters — have heard it referred to only under its code name, Alpha.Pending a small handful of loose ends that need to be nailed down, including incentive packages from the city and Volusia County, the company is expected to announce within the next few weeks that it’s coming to town and giving Daytona Beach one more big-name business to add to its list of expected arrivals.“It’s looking extremely promising,” said City Commissioner Rob Gilliland, who has been talking to officials with the company and the landowner. “I think we’re very, very close; probably a few weeks away.”The targeted site is a treeless 76.5-acre property just north of Dunn Avenue between Interstate 95 and Williamson Boulevard. Members of the city’s Planning Board will decide tonight whether to OK a zoning change that would allow the project to move forward.City commissioners will take a final vote in early April on the proposed zoning change, from multifamily residential to planned commercial development, and approvals are still needed for site plans and permits. It’s unclear how soon construction could start and the operation could be up and running.The property, which is near Teledyne Oil & Gas and several apartment complexes, is owned by Consolidated-Tomoka Land Co. The plan for the site outlined in city documents calls for a 523,760-square-foot warehouse, 101,760-square-foot freezer building, 6,000-square-foot truck wash and 178,275-square-foot future building expansion. There is also mention of an 8-foot-tall chain-link fence that could be hidden by landscaping to comply with U.S. Food and Drug Administration requirements.“The developer and end user of the distribution center will be investing more than $88 million in capital improvements to construct the project, thereby substantially increasing the ad valorem tax base which will provide tax relief to residents of the city,” Rob Merrell, a Daytona Beach attorney representing Consolidated-Tomoka, wrote in a Feb. 20 letter to the city’s principal planner.“The project will also be a catalyst for similar future development in and around the city,” Merrell noted in the letter.Mark Soskin, a University of Central Florida associate economics professor, agreed the sprawling distribution center could prompt similar operations to take a look at locating in Daytona Beach.“This is a signal this is a favorable environment for this type of development,” Soskin said. “It’s definitely a good sign.”Landing a company that supplies food — something much less vulnerable to market ups and downs than other goods — and getting the company to put a huge warehouse here would be a coup for Daytona, he said.Distribution “is an area I’ve been pushing for 25 years,” Soskin said. “We’re so anemic in that sector. ... It’s a critical sector that has blocked the further development of our economy while the rest of Florida has passed us by.”The average salary for employees of the distribution center — $28,222 annually, or $13.57 per hour — is lower than Volusia County’s average annual private sector wage of $33,494 cited by the state Department of Economic Opportunity. But Soskin noted it’s still a decent wage for the area and a chance for permanent employment in a town that has temporary jobs for special events.With I-95 running through Daytona and I-4 on the western edge of town, the city is a great location for a distributor, Soskin said. He said he’s cringed every time he’s seen a big box store snatch up a spot near an interstate off-ramp, calling it “an obscenity and a blight” that “encourages sprawl.”Daytona has been competing with other cities for the company’s warehouse, and being near I-95 and I-4 is an advantage, Gilliland said.“There’s only five places in Florida where interstates connect and we’re one of them,” he said.The city, county and state are all trying to do their part to close the deal, Gilliland said. The state and the company worked out an incentive agreement a month ago, and the city is looking at offering property tax abatements over several years, he said.County Manager Jim Dinneen said he and his staff are working on an incentive package for the project that’s in the million dollar range and focused on public infrastructure. Like other local officials, Dinneen wouldn’t confirm the name of the company, saying he promised he wouldn’t. But he did say he’s excited about the prospect.“It’s a good company,” he said. “These are good jobs.”“It’s a huge economic development benefit to the community,” Merrell agreed. “The hope is this project will have a ripple effect.”Staff Writer Andrew Gant contributed to this report.